Scaled-back development up for planning department review again in Mazama

A Mazama property owner has revised a proposal for a development on Goat Creek Road, scaling it back to two residences instead of three on the eight-and-a-half acres.

Project sponsor Ken Madden filed a revised proposal in March with the Okanogan County Planning Department for the Trailside project that seeks a rezone of the parcel from rural residential to planned development for the two units.

Rezoning the property would permit higher density on the lot, since the rural residential zone requires a minimum of five acres per dwelling, according to Ben Rough, senior planner for Okanogan County. Madden’s application also outlines plans to develop the property for nightly rentals, which are only permitted in planned developments.

The Trailside development would increase access to recreation in Mazama because of its proximity to trails, retain six acres as open space, and preserve view corridors, according to Madden’s application. Water would be supplied by converting an individual well to a group system.

There is already one residence on the lot. The developer intends to sell the second lot if the proposal is approved, according to his application.

Madden submitted the revised plan and environmental checklist in March, reducing the planned development from three to two residences and making other minor changes to the original design, which was first submitted in 2012. The Okanogan County planning commission determined in November that the design for the three-unit Trailside Planned Development did not satisfy the requirements for a density bonus.

In a separate matter related to planned developments, the Okanogan County commissioners will consider an amendment to the county’s zoning code on Monday (March 24) that would require at least twice the minimum lot size in the underlying zone for planned developments in Mazama. The planning commission recommended the change in February.

If that change is approved, it would not affect the Trailside proposal, since the county will follow the zoning in effect at the time Madden’s application was submitted, said Rough.

The omission of special lot-size requirements for planned developments in the rural residential and low-density residential zones in Mazama went unnoticed for a decade after the zones were first created. The Mazama Advisory Committee noticed the omission after the first Trailside proposal was submitted two years ago, according to committee chair Jim Gregg.

Okanogan County has determined that the new Trailside proposal would have no significant environmental consequences under the State Environmental Policy Act. The public may comment on the project through March 26 to brough@co.okanogan.wa.us. The Trailside proposal will be reviewed by the county’s hearing examiner, but no date has been set yet for the public hearing. For more information, call (509) 422-7122.